Albany's Savage ready for Arena Football season

December 26, 2003

Albany- It didn't take Albany's Antwone Savage long in his first NFL training camp to find out that professional football is a rough business.

The undrafted free agent was cut by the Arizona Cardinals before their first pre-season game because the Cardinals needed Savage's space on their roster to sign an offensive lineman after losing several other linemen to injuries.

Savage came back to Albany hoping to that he would catch on with another NFL team but that didn't happen.

After spending the fall watching football from his den, The Westover High product was signed by the expansion Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League.

The AFL season will begin the week after the Super Bowl in February.

The former Westover High product says he has missed football and is ready to report to training camp in Austin, Texas next month.

The former Oklahoma Sooner wide receiver is hoping pass oriented Arena League will allow him to showcase his talents to NFL scouts in hopes that it leads to another invitation to an NFL training camp this summer.

Savage said "I got a bunch of players that have made it to the NFL and a bunch of players who haven't made it to the NFL. A bunch of them are in the arena leagues playing right now and the main thing they are telling me is that when you are playing arena ball it is not because you are not good enough to play in the NFL. There are so many teams in the NFL and there are only so many players they can keep on the roster. The Arena League is really another NFL, just a little smaller."

Before training camp begins in Austin, Texas on January 9th, Antwone Savage has a tryout with the Green Bay Packers on January 5th, the day after his Oklahoma Sooners play LSU for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl.